I'm not sure where you're getting your information. I've spent most of my life in agricultural areas, and virtually every farm I see is owned and run by local farmers. From the EPA:

According to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, the vast majority of farms in this country (87%) are owned and operated by individuals or families. The next largest category of ownership is partnerships (8%). The "Corporate" farms account for only 4% of U.S. farms and 1 percent are owned by other-cooperative, estates or trusts etc. However, the term "family farm" does not necessarily equate with "small farm"; nor does a "corporate farm" necessarily mean a large-scale operation owned and operated by a multi-national corporation. Many of the country's largest agricultural enterprises are family owned. Likewise, many farm families have formed modest-sized corporations to take advantage of legal and accounting benefits of that type of business enterprise.

http://www.epa.gov/oecaagct/ag...

Hmmmm.. let me introduce you to the BOFH

There is a little graph I would like to show [msn.com] you...

Interesting, but a little misleading. You can't even tell there was a 1929 bust using that graph. Try the log version for a more realistic look.